Wayne Youle

Wayne Youle

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wayne Youle’s diverse practice is underpinned by his bicultural heritage (Nga Puhi, Ngati Whakaeke, Ngati Pakeha) and background studies in design. Working comfortably across a wide variety of media, Youle’s works, whether collage, painting, mural or sculpture, reflect a fascination with the visual language of popular culture, and a questioning of how history and identity are written.

Youle has exhibited regularly since graduating from the Wellington Polytechnic School of Design in 1999. His work has been the subject of several museum shows and has been included in significant exhibitions including: Pasifika Styles, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge University, U.K, 2008; CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, 2009; 10DOWN, a survey of Youle’s practice, Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, Porirua 2010; and If you were to live here… 5th Auckland Triennial, Auckland, New Zealand, 2013. In 2017 Youle had major public solo exhibitions at Christchurch Art Gallery – Te Puna O Waiwhetu: Look Mum No Hands and Strangely Familiar at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington.

His work is held in numerous public collections across his native New Zealand, including Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Christchurch, the Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Auckland, and James Wallace Arts Trust, New Zealand, Auckland.